Blue wrote on Apr 21, 2011, 14:31:...I think you are using it the way most people do, by the fourth definition, which does not describe my intent: "entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings: a perfect apple; the perfect crime."

Except too many people use the fourth definition.

That a game should have zero bugs, zero flaws, and not be released until those conditions are met.

Said people are obviously not software developers.

Not related to your back-and-forth, but I figured worth mentioning since I just flipped through a whole bunch of those kinds of posts on a PC game's forum yesterday.

This comment was edited on Apr 21, 2011, 16:14.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

Verno wrote on Apr 21, 2011, 15:14:You can't use FOIA to just get whatever information you feel like you want in the entire universe. You cannot obtain a copy of someone elses tax return without a court order or their written permission. You can't just barge around demanding private info from privately held companies either. A judge can compel it but you're not a judge.

It reminds me of an episodes of Bones 1-2 years ago.

Some UFO nut keeps yelling "Freedom of Information Act" when she wants Booth (the FBI agent) to tell her the truth and or do what she says.

A nearby sheriff says "It's not a magic spell, it doesn't work that way"

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

Cutter wrote on Apr 20, 2011, 18:08:...How can anyone possibly be pro-liquor and anti-pot? It's like those anti-choice hypocrites who are anti-choice and pro-death penalty. Ruh??? At least maintain some fucking consistency.

I'm not saying this is me, since I don't even like to say what my stance is in either abortion or the death penalty.

I could see someone being inconsistent in their choices without being contradictory, though I see pro-choice / anti-death-penalty more than the other way around.

I've heard the argument that someone is against the death penalty because in the end, we can never be "sure" that a mistake wasn't made. An over-zealous District Attorney, the defense not being able to get a good lawyer, etc.

So it's not so much an anti-death stance, as not wanting even a handful of innocent people getting killed because they had a string of bad luck. In which case someone could be against the death penalty, but also pro-choice.

And then the same person would be pro-choice, because without the choice you start taking away the option where there might be health concerns for the mother or a rape victim not wanting to birth the kid.

Again, I' not saying either opinion is more valid than other opinions. But believing in both of the above isn't a contradiction.

This comment was edited on Apr 21, 2011, 09:11.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

The whole country got hit obviously, but I know in New Jersey things haven't been as bad. As I'm in the market for a (1st) house, it's annoying that all of the neighborhoods by where I live or where I work really didn't drop in price that much.

Only a couple of % to be honest. Enough to upgrade slightly (like a nicer kitchen) but that's about it.

Hardly any foreclosures were around here.

Meanwhile people in other parts of the country were really surprised about how much prices dropped.

I'll be honest though, I don't know what New York (or even that area of NY) are like due to the market.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

Pigeon wrote on Apr 19, 2011, 14:10:The problem with charging for DLC levels is always going to be the price to content ratio. If you charge $10 for a map pack that's 1/15th the content of the original $50 game you're paying $6 more for content than at the original releases price:content ratio.

So on the surface I'm inclined to be in favor of charging for DLC levels etc, but my past experience has shown me the price:content ratio has been pretty bad for consumers.

Oh it's usually pretty bad.

However I'd still rather have the ability to buy more maps and missions than cosmetic gear.

For example maybe after a couple of years I've beaten a game I really like game twice.

Now I want to play a third time but want to "spice" things up again.

Another mission or map pack might make things more interesting for me.

I'm not saying I would do it. In fact I haven't done that yet with a game. But I have done some of the free mods for Half-Life 2.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

Verno wrote on Apr 19, 2011, 13:51:Fair points but if I am going to give the industry money for something I'd rather it be content than meaningless filler. Paying for hats encourages them to make more frivolous shit that takes less work to develop.

Yeh, companies are going to go where they find the best profit margin.

If we all start buying hats and goggles, then companies are going to say "WOW, little DLC makes us $1,000 for every man-hour spent while maps and missions make us $500 for every man-hour spent."

It won't take long until they REALLY shift their focus onto little stuff like that instead of maps and missions.

One could argue that the above scenario would be short-sited. Unfortunately many companies see video games as quick cash-grabs and thus look at them through short-sited glasses.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

dds wrote on Apr 19, 2011, 13:28:I suppose I'm in the minority, but I just don't "get" portal.

Played the first one for about an hour and got bored. The concept was interesting, but the story/environment didn't drive me to keep playing.

I'm sure Valve has done an excellent job, though.

As someone else said, there wasn't *that* much story during the actual experiment / trial rooms. You slowly started to see that the place wasn't so squeaky clean and "something" odd was going on. It's also weird that all of the observation rooms are empty and it's earily quiet.

I think every now and then you'd find a hidden room with crazy ramblings and maybe some blood.

But nothing much story-related.

Until... you got to a certain point. What should have been your final test / task turns into something else.

After that it gets more interesting from a story standpoint. Nothing is really spoken / written to you but you figure it out on your own as you progress.

In the end it is still just a puzzle game, and puzzle games are never really big on story (Angry Birds, Tetris, Peggle, etc). But they had some.

SST

The final test / trial was supposed to kill you with fire, you but you escape

You appear to be the only one alive in the facility, or at least awake.

The facility is owned by Aprature Science, a competitor to the Black Mesa facility

Aprature science decided to compete with Black Mesa by streamlining things with an advanced AI (Glados) that would run things more efficiently and cheaper

Glados apparently went off the rails and killed everyone with toxic gas. Apparently she spared some test subjects in capsules

There have been other test subjects, she led them through the same trials with promise of cake.

Some appear to have gone crazy, wrote "The Cake is a Lie" on the walls. But where are they? See earlier bullet about fire.

You fight Glados at the end. She's made up of different spherical modules, each one representing a different function.

Apparently her conscience module failed and she killed everyone with toxic gas

/SST

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

Cutter wrote on Apr 7, 2011, 13:09:...It has a power, and is cheaper than incarceration, that jail doesn't. ...Like making someone stand outside a store they shoplifted from with a sign stating that. That's some embarassing shit and will make most people think twice about doing stuff like that in the future.

The cost thing is the *only* thing I have in favor of it. It costs a whole lot of money each day a person is in jail, so it saves us.

And the sandwhich sign sayin "I'm a shop-lifter..." isn't so bad. Or making a noise-pollution offender sit in a room and listen to a loud stereo playing bad music (I heard about that one last year) for X hours.

I don't mind those and wouldn't care if that's as far as it went.

But I recall hearing some real insane things in the past. Like I said being forced to stand around in drag in a hooker neighborhood. And I think walking around the court-room sans pants/underwear. I recall hearing some other very "out-there" things but they escape me at the moment.

Like I said, it isn't just (or always) the fact that the guilty have to do these things.

It's that the judge feels kosher doing it, and in my opinion gets personal satisfaction out of it. And a Judge's decision should NEVER be based on whether they are satisfied.

Take it a few steps further, and we go back to locking people in the stocks and throwing rotting produce at them.

This comment was edited on Apr 7, 2011, 13:25.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

On one hand, the juror was either a racist jerk or REALLY wanted to get out of jury duty. From what I hear a lot of people try to claim to be super-racist to get out of jury duty.

If trying to get out of jury duty, the person should've known they were going overboard.

If an actual huge racist, I'd rather the person be honest and get kicked off than let them sit on a trial and potentially screw with the verdict. Even if I had to listen to a 2-minute tirade on why they hate fat people, better that than let them play even a small part in the judgement of my guilt/innocence.

On the other hand, I don't like hearing about judge's making unique little punishments. Like offering a choice between the maximum sentence for public indecency or walking down a commonly known hooker's street in drag.

By giving them that choice, then the judge obviously doesn't believe they deserve the max penalty for something and are just being bullies.

Not that the sentences are that extreme like "cut off your finger..."

But just the fact that they decide to make you do stupid stuff, as if they got off on the power of it all.

I don't know, maybe it's just me. But for someone that's supposed to uphold the letter of the law (if not the spirit) and the person that's responsible for making sure we all get fairly tried in an ordered and respectful court...

I just don't like idea of said persons flexing their muscles and making someone do outlandish things. If it's not a pass, anger management / other therapy, fine, or on the approved list of punishments then it shouldn't be it.

Someone shouldn't be able to say "drop your trousers in this court room now or get the maximum penalty" especially if the infraction doesn't really warrant max penalty.

This comment was edited on Apr 7, 2011, 13:11.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

Verno wrote on Apr 6, 2011, 11:13:...For something "similar", I found the Solaris remake better than the original in many ways though it certainly explores different themes and thankfully has a much shorter runtime.

I haven't seen the remake in a while, but I recall thinking it was an OK sci fi flick. At least better than some of the reviews made it out to be.

I think I'll see if I can rent it again or something. I'm in the mood for slow + thoughtful films.

Heck, maybe while I'm at it I'll watch 2001 again. I saw 2010 again a few months ago so I won't bother with that one again.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

Cutter wrote on Mar 16, 2011, 13:24:Is there somewhere you can suspend the birdfeeder that they can't jump to it from? Even raise it and lower it using a high test fishing line that can take the weight but where a squirrel can find no purchase.

I don't see how.

Any branch strong enough to hold a feeder + seed + birds will be strong enough for a squirrel.

If it (or the fishing line) is weak enough to break when a squirrel jumps on it, then you'll have squirrels kamekaze'ing onto the thing, knocking it off the fishing wire, and eating the food off the ground.

Squirrels are pretty good with their acrobatics. So unless you somehow find the perfect branch and take the time to hang it like 20' off the ground, the squirrels are going to win.

Or you'll wind up having to re-hand the feeder every few days. Which can be a pain if it's super-high in the air.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

I had a high school teacher that would supposedly give you bonus points on your test for wearing black (or all-black) on the Ides of March.

The "Cat Plays Dead" video looks like the cat is drugged to me. There's playing dead, and then there's letting something mess with your fangs. Some animals (like possums) might be able to pull off something like that, but I doubt a cat would be alright with it.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

SpectralMeat wrote on Feb 10, 2011, 12:48:During the day keys in the pockets are of course different, I have my keys in my pocket during the day at work etc., but when I get home I take everything out of my pocket keys, cellphone, money etc., then I change clothes and the last thing I want is anything in my pockets.

Ditto

In my case, it's because I will often lay down on the couch and don't want to worry about sticking myself with the keys or rolling over and activating my car's "panic" button.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

Creston wrote on Feb 9, 2011, 11:38:Why on earth are you still on Vista?

It's what the machine came with, and it wasn't causing any problems, so I didn't feel any burning need to upgrade, so that's what the restore function restores. As I say, if I realized how long it would all take, I would have done a Windows 7 upgrade.

How long the restore will take is still not clear, as I'm still installing Windows updates. Yeesh.

Yeh, that's the problem rolling back with an older version of windows. It's update-after-update.

One thing that helped back in XP anyway, was when I knew I had to do that on someone's PC I'd download the latest Service Pack installation file (a few hundred MB).

Install that by itself, and that covers most of the older updates. Then there are fewer you need to do via the Windows Update feature.

But I don't know if that's still valid with Vista or 7.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

I *believe* the only problems I've had with my Win7 x64 build were:- A bad ATI video card. Replaced w/ nVidia- A bad front-bezel USB/MemoryCardReader combo. Just took it out entirely- One (and only one) of my games freezes for a little while

In my case it looks like most of the problem were hardware related. I think I'm done with Dell.

Then again, I don't know if that game-freezing is a symptom of something larger. But since it's an SOE game I have no problem blaming Sony.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama

If this was being offered after month 3 or 4, I'd be more concerned (red).

Considering we're still within the first month I'm just cautious (yellow).

Imagine this, game got released and on release day they made the offer. It wouldn't be a sure-sign of defeat, it would be the same as the whole Lifetime subscription that Champions Online and Lord of the Rings offered.

With it being in the first month, it might as well be the first day. If it was after Month 3 or so it would be a sign of "We've hemoraged all of our players. HELLLP!"

Now, I'm not saying I have the warm-and-fuzzies about this offer. It could also be a sign that their PR and Research guys are saying "too many people are jumping ship"

But it could also just be something to entice people to stay on. Especially since so many PS3 players are confused about the concept of a "monthly fee for a single MMO."

Personally I think this game would be better off as a Free-To-Play. Especially on the PS3.

It's FUN, but I not everyone likes running raids and alerts as the ed-game content.

"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you." -Fry, Futurama